Inside Out
Starring Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith
Directed by Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen
It took 15 films but Pixar’s latest may be its crowning achievement. Where Toy Story 3 was sometimes simply superficial fun and Up couldn’t quite sustain its initially strong narrative, Inside Out represents a huge intellectual step forward and significantly raises the bar for animated movies.
Set inside the mind of an 11-year old girl named Riley, the film anthropomorphizes her five main emotions – Joy (Poehler), Sadness (Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Fear (Bill Hader). Things get complicated once Joy and Sadness are separated from the rest of the bunch as Riley is navigating the trials and tribulations of moving to a new city. Displaying some fine form, veteran director Pete Docter tugs at the heartstrings early with a patented Pixar montage that illustrates some of Riley’s memorable moments, starting with her birth. Any parent will be openly crying five minutes into the movie and even the most steely-hearted should expect to be reduced to a weeping mess by the end.
It’s not all running mascara and soiled tissues though; Inside Out contains plenty of gut-busting hilarity and ‘in-jokes’ that will have the adults chortling away. The skillfully balanced script and superbly crafted story help give the film a rock solid foundation, while Michael Giacchino’s musical score breathes wonderful life into the gorgeous animation, which also effectively utilizes the 3D technology throughout.
In many ways, Inside Out transcends the genre to become a sort of instruction manual for kids on how to deal with their ever-shifting emotions.
